1779: 1,000 Continental Marines and militiamen, including a 100-man artillery detachment commanded by Paul Revere, depart Boston, sailing to attack the British at Fort George (present-day Castine, Maine). The 44-ship Penobscot Expedition – the largest naval expedition of the Revolutionary War – proves to be a disastrous defeat for the Americans, as every vessel is either destroyed or captured by the British, and survivors of the failed attack must find their way back to Massachusetts with little to no supplies.
1863: The Confederate Army’s “Great Raid of 1863” is dealt a serious blow in Ohio, where Union gunboats and pursuing cavalry attack Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan’s handpicked cavalry force as they attempt to cross the swollen Ohio River. After covering some 1,000 miles in Northern territory, capturing and paroling some 6,000 Union soldiers, seizing supplies, destroying railroads and bridges, and spreading terror throughout the North, Morgan’s weary force is trapped and hundreds are captured. Within days, most of the raiders are taken prisoner, including Morgan, who is sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary. But in November, Morgan and several of his officers will tunnel out of the prison and escape to safety.
Morgan’s men as POWs
1942: Adm. Karl Dönitz orders his U-boats to abandon their hunting grounds off the American coast; the institution of anti-submarine countermeasures, such as the convoy system, has put an end to the easy pickings of what German submariners referred to as the “Happy Time.”
Adm. Karl Dönitz
1943: As the Allies march across Sicily, 700 B-17 and B-24 bombers conduct a daylight bombing raid on Rome, the first time the “Eternal City” is targeted during World War II. Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, with his army on the brink of collapse, will be removed from power and arrested within a week.
1944: In New Guinea, enemy mortars and machineguns have pinned down a platoon of 112th Cavalry troopers. 2nd Lt. Dale E. Christensen orders his men to stay put while he crawls forward to pinpoint the enemy weapons and the best approaches of attack. Although enemy fire knocks Christensen’s rifle from his hands, he continues his mission, locating five machinegun nests and wiping one out with his grenades. He then leads the charge which neutralizes ten machinegun positions and four mortars.
Three days before, he ordered his men to remain behind cover while he crawled forward and eliminated an enemy machinegun nest from 15 yards away. And in August, he is killed in action just two yards away from taking out yet another machinegun. For his actions, Christensen is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1953: Just days before the armistice ends combat between the United States and North Korea, Air Force Lt. Col. Vermont Garrison scores his 10th kill of the war, becoming a “double ace.” Garrison flew for both Britain’s Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, with 7 victories in Europe. When war breaks out in Vietnam, the 51-year-old “Grey Eagle” will command the 405th Fighter Wing, flying 97 combat missions over Laos and Vietnam.
“The Grey Eagle,” Col. Vermont Garrison
1963: (featured image) NASA test pilot – and former Army Air Forces pilot during World War II – Joseph A. Walker flies his North American X-15 aircraft to an altitude of 66 miles, becoming the first civilian to fly in space.
